4 ms·

Ask HN: what types of softwares are needed during (this) great depression

10 points by newstartup 17y ago

Assuming we are in a great depression, what kind of websites can we expect people to really need to use during this time? I can only think of grocery websites that people can use to find the cheapest food.

shaunxcode 17y ago
What about ad-hoc collaborative gardening/crop sharing? Skill sharing, car pooling and generally anything that fosters real community would do well I should imagine.
- newstartup 17y ago
  i think there are many car pooling websites out there already. But skill sharing would be cool; post/barter your skills. I can only think of craigslist as a good place to barter your skills
  - noodle 17y ago
    http://www.timebanks.org/ http://www.timebanks.org/
- adbachman 17y ago
  My wife has been trying to get something going in our neck of the woods: [foodmake.org](http://www.foodmake.org/ http://www.foodmake.org/), and it seems to be going pretty well. The goal is to get people talking and then get them off the web and connecting in the real world as soon as possible.
quoderat 17y ago
A site listing foreclosed and abandoned homes for squatting? Or perhaps the same for gardening? A house trading site so that you can trade houses with someone where your and their job prospects are better? A better roommate matching site than any one I've seen so far? A kid-sitting exchange site? A more-local Ebay (not like Craig's List), more like the Ebay of old? Apprenticeships?
jgilliam 17y ago
Make Me Dinner - a match making service that would connect people who need meals with people who can make them, presumably in their neighborhood. So a single working person indicates what kind of food they like, and mom who cooks for a family of 6 adds a couple extra portions to what she makes that night and delivers it to a couple neighbors. That pays for her whole family. Chefs could post updates of what they're cooking that night, and people could "follow" their favorite chefs and pick from the meals available. Chefs build reputations, etc. It's like the ebay for food service. It builds local community, creates opportunity for people to start their own micro-business, and it works really well in a recession -- people spend less eating out, and people who need money can make some. The potential challenges are city/state laws around food inspection, that would all have to be investigated and figured out. There are lots of caterers and personal chefs, so I assume there's a way to navigate all of that.
- dbul 17y ago
  My friend Chris at MIT wanted me to make something like this for him and a dozen of his classmates thinking it would be simple. When we specked it out, it turns out it is not simple because you need to account for several circumstances like schedule changes and whether someone is vegetarian. I decided to build it into part of a larger project I'm working on. I think it is a great idea. Just cook one meal every week or two and go over a neighbor's house to enjoy a meal the other days of the week.
- rs 17y ago
  That's actually a very good idea! I swear I could save a lot of time by not having to cook and would love to have some homemade cooking for a change (rather than TV/Microwave dinners)
- litewulf 17y ago
  (Theres a story about this being suggested as a hoax business idea somewhere...)
- HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
  Wasn't there a post on here a few months ago about someone who put an ad on Craigslist for this and ended up with a really good deal? A housewife who liked to cook responded and he gets a weeks worth of meals at a time that he freezes until he can eat them.
DannoHung 17y ago
lootr - CRM software for thieves and scrappers.
markessien 17y ago
This is not a depression, but an idea that would work is the house listing idea. Prices are going down, so speculators are going to rush to purchase.
- dare2d4l 17y ago
  an open-source MLS would be great...I know it's been talked about many times in the blogsphere, but right now, realtrac is spamming trulia, for example.
vaksel 17y ago
an iphone app that tells you where the soup kitchen is
- njoubert 17y ago
  i couldn't help but laugh at this, but actually, mobile apps that can deliver up-to-date information on where things are, might be really useful. Since a large part of the great depression is a lack of "things you need"...
  - stevejalim 17y ago
    How about an iPhone app for when the oil runs out, that shows you which fuel stations still have fuel? ;o)
    - wlievens 17y ago
      Fuel is abundant right now, that's a symptom of this crisis.
FiReaNG3L 17y ago
Common Sense Software, many people who created this mess could use it
- startuprules 17y ago
  lol i hope electroshock interface is mandatory
andreyf 17y ago
Well, if Google trends is any indicator of interest: http://google.com/trends?q=porn http://google.com/trends?q=porn
codeodor 17y ago
It's a great question that we should all be thinking about, especially the entrepreneurial among us. But -- even given my short time here -- I'm surprised it didn't get killed due to the liberally editorial headline. As for "Make Me Dinner" I read recently about doing on one of the "frugal" blogs that Lifehacker quotes from a lot about doing something like that. I can't recall if there was a website for it. When looking for the actual post, I didn't find it, but I did find another one that I thought might make a nice website, (and which I was going to look for next), along the same lines of your question: the Swapluck (instead of pot-luck) http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-swapluck-to-share-the-things-you-make-and-do/ http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-swapluc...
HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
Do you have any idea what a depression is like? In a depression, the game is changed to such an extent that you'd be hard pressed to predict what people would need. Instead, go outside and ask them. They'll be easy to spot: lying in the gutters, begging for change, an in line at the soup kitchens. So we'll need software to manage food usage at those soup kitchens, track incoming supplies to the homeless shelters, and good disease management tools. In short, pretty similar to disaster management software! Good enough answer? Yeah, I know I'm getting snarky in my old age :-)

10 points by newstartup 17y ago

shaunxcode 17y ago

What about ad-hoc collaborative gardening/crop sharing? Skill sharing, car pooling and generally anything that fosters real community would do well I should imagine.

newstartup 17y ago
i think there are many car pooling websites out there already. But skill sharing would be cool; post/barter your skills. I can only think of craigslist as a good place to barter your skills
- noodle 17y ago
  http://www.timebanks.org/ http://www.timebanks.org/
adbachman 17y ago
My wife has been trying to get something going in our neck of the woods: [foodmake.org](http://www.foodmake.org/ http://www.foodmake.org/), and it seems to be going pretty well. The goal is to get people talking and then get them off the web and connecting in the real world as soon as possible.

quoderat 17y ago

A site listing foreclosed and abandoned homes for squatting? Or perhaps the same for gardening? A house trading site so that you can trade houses with someone where your and their job prospects are better? A better roommate matching site than any one I've seen so far? A kid-sitting exchange site? A more-local Ebay (not like Craig's List), more like the Ebay of old? Apprenticeships?

jgilliam 17y ago

Make Me Dinner - a match making service that would connect people who need meals with people who can make them, presumably in their neighborhood. So a single working person indicates what kind of food they like, and mom who cooks for a family of 6 adds a couple extra portions to what she makes that night and delivers it to a couple neighbors. That pays for her whole family. Chefs could post updates of what they're cooking that night, and people could "follow" their favorite chefs and pick from the meals available. Chefs build reputations, etc. It's like the ebay for food service. It builds local community, creates opportunity for people to start their own micro-business, and it works really well in a recession -- people spend less eating out, and people who need money can make some. The potential challenges are city/state laws around food inspection, that would all have to be investigated and figured out. There are lots of caterers and personal chefs, so I assume there's a way to navigate all of that.

dbul 17y ago
My friend Chris at MIT wanted me to make something like this for him and a dozen of his classmates thinking it would be simple. When we specked it out, it turns out it is not simple because you need to account for several circumstances like schedule changes and whether someone is vegetarian. I decided to build it into part of a larger project I'm working on. I think it is a great idea. Just cook one meal every week or two and go over a neighbor's house to enjoy a meal the other days of the week.
rs 17y ago
That's actually a very good idea! I swear I could save a lot of time by not having to cook and would love to have some homemade cooking for a change (rather than TV/Microwave dinners)
litewulf 17y ago
(Theres a story about this being suggested as a hoax business idea somewhere...)
HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago
Wasn't there a post on here a few months ago about someone who put an ad on Craigslist for this and ended up with a really good deal? A housewife who liked to cook responded and he gets a weeks worth of meals at a time that he freezes until he can eat them.

DannoHung 17y ago

lootr - CRM software for thieves and scrappers.

markessien 17y ago

This is not a depression, but an idea that would work is the house listing idea. Prices are going down, so speculators are going to rush to purchase.

dare2d4l 17y ago
an open-source MLS would be great...I know it's been talked about many times in the blogsphere, but right now, realtrac is spamming trulia, for example.

vaksel 17y ago

an iphone app that tells you where the soup kitchen is

njoubert 17y ago
i couldn't help but laugh at this, but actually, mobile apps that can deliver up-to-date information on where things are, might be really useful. Since a large part of the great depression is a lack of "things you need"...
- stevejalim 17y ago
  How about an iPhone app for when the oil runs out, that shows you which fuel stations still have fuel? ;o)
  - wlievens 17y ago
    Fuel is abundant right now, that's a symptom of this crisis.

FiReaNG3L 17y ago

Common Sense Software, many people who created this mess could use it

startuprules 17y ago
lol i hope electroshock interface is mandatory

andreyf 17y ago

Well, if Google trends is any indicator of interest: http://google.com/trends?q=porn http://google.com/trends?q=porn

codeodor 17y ago

It's a great question that we should all be thinking about, especially the entrepreneurial among us. But -- even given my short time here -- I'm surprised it didn't get killed due to the liberally editorial headline. As for "Make Me Dinner" I read recently about doing on one of the "frugal" blogs that Lifehacker quotes from a lot about doing something like that. I can't recall if there was a website for it. When looking for the actual post, I didn't find it, but I did find another one that I thought might make a nice website, (and which I was going to look for next), along the same lines of your question: the Swapluck (instead of pot-luck) http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-swapluck-to-share-the-things-you-make-and-do/ http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/2009/04/04/start-a-swapluc...

HeyLaughingBoy 17y ago

Do you have any idea what a depression is like? In a depression, the game is changed to such an extent that you'd be hard pressed to predict what people would need. Instead, go outside and ask them. They'll be easy to spot: lying in the gutters, begging for change, an in line at the soup kitchens. So we'll need software to manage food usage at those soup kitchens, track incoming supplies to the homeless shelters, and good disease management tools. In short, pretty similar to disaster management software! Good enough answer? Yeah, I know I'm getting snarky in my old age :-)